Thursday, June 5, 2014

Human rights action update May 30-June 5

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

ALGERIA
Workers are denied the right to organize in unions. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, "Workers in Algeria are stymied at every turn when they try to form independent unions and act collectively. The government punishes peaceful protesters and strikers, including with retaliatory suspensions or dismissals from public service jobs, and arbitrarily arrests and prosecutes union activists on politically motivated charges." Please join the protest.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Asylum seekers are at risk of torture and forced repatriation. There are grave concerns for two abducted asylum seekers, as it is feared that they have been forcibly returned to Uzbekistan and are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Dilshodbek Nazarov, 42, and, Davronbek Mamazhonov, 38, were abducted in Kaliningrad, Russia, on 26 and 27 May 2014 respectively. On the 26 May, Dilshodbek Nazarov called his lawyer on his mobile phone telling her that he was being forced into a car and taken to an airport. Please act on their behalf.

THAILAND: THREATS TO THE LIVES OF VILLAGE LEADERS
There are allegations that professional gunmen have been hired to attack and possibly assassinate six men and two women associated with the Khon Rak Ban Koed group in Wangsaphung District, north-eastern Thailand. The village of 700 residents has been opposing the opening of a gold mine in its vicinity. Please act, despite the unstable situation in Thailand.